Parties are Voting Made Simple

George Washington said it well. "Let me . . . warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. . . . It is a spirit not to be encouraged." George gave this thought in his farewell address.

We should heed his warning.

But, that is not to say there is not some benefit to having political parties. Many a voter will be stepping into the voting booth without a good idea of who to vote for. Some will not have studied at all. They won't know the candidates, but they will know what their own personal idealogies are. All of their own beliefs might not fall squarely in the Republican box or the Democrat box, but many might.

So, they vote straight party, matching their general idealogy to the general philosophy of the party, and, presto, end up voting for the "right" candidate much of the time.

Political parties are voting made easy, voting simplified.

But there should be a better way. As it is, voters simply often are not educated, do not know the candidates, and paint them with this broad brush of party affiliation. There must be a better way, other than just matching the party with personal idealogy.

We could give voters a day off, just to study. Think they'd take advantage of that? They might if provided a festive event where they could come and learn and meet the candidates. Let the candidates come give speeches, and be introduced amidst the throngs of their supporters, the banners and signs being marched down the aisles. Anyone who has been to a political convention knows they can be fun. So, let's hold them just before the election. The slate of candidates for all offices would each have their own debate, the minor party candidates being included along with the Democratic and Republican Party favorites. Pamphlets, videos, and displays of news articles all would be there. Those who do websites with information would set up computers, so voters could access them. Each candidate would field questions from the audience.

We often don't do something unless we set aside a time for it. And, we often don't do something unless it's fun, so we would make it fun.

I'd like to see such an event, such a day. Maybe put in on Halloween, just before elections, giving Candidates Day the first half, then Halloween the evening and night. Politicians are a scary bunch, so it might be a nice match.